Overview

PhotoShelter is the only photographer website service that provides a rights-managed pricing calculator for an individual website. Our partnership with Cradoc fotoSoftware allows us to integrate the industry-standard fotoQuote® software into PhotoShelter, giving you the ability to license rights-managed images without your intervention, using the same type of pricing "calculator" found on photo agency sites.

Creating a Pricing Profile

To view your pricing profiles, click Sell -> Pricing Profiles.

To add a new pricing profile, click the "Add Profile" button in the upper right. Then click "Rights Managed" in the pop-up bubble.

You may create an unlimited number of profiles. For example, you might have three profiles: one for your high, one for your medium, and one for your low-priced imagery.

Neither the name nor description of the profile is ever seen by buyers, so feel free to make it as descriptive or enigmatic as you'd like.

Because there is no physical shipment, we recommend requiring a physical "shipping" address upon purchase. Otherwise, only a contact e-mail will be required to transact.

fotoQuote® Pricing

FotoQuote® provides a set of survey data that displays the average price for an image based on a specific usage. PhotoShelter provides you the ability to specify which categories and geographies that you would like to allow in a given profile. For example, you could create a profile for your Editorial-only sales by checking "Editorial" in the usage rights, and then selecting "North America" in the Sales Regions.

The baseline price that fotoQuote provides is always indicated as "100%" in PhotoShelter. You may set variances for specific categories and geographies by altering the percentages next to the appropriate row from 1-999% (no decimals are allowed). For example, you might feel that fotoQuote's Corporate usage pricing is a little low, so you might increase its percentage to 112%.

Similarly, since fotoQuote's data is US-based, you might feel that it is too high for a different country or region. You can set a percentage variance based on geography (e.g. 86% in Australia, and 62% in South Africa). You can offer licensing by specific country/state, or take advantage of our different groupings:

• U.S. State
• Group of North American states
• Country
• Region (as defined by Alamy)
• Worldwide

You must select and populate at least one Usage Right and one Sales Region to create a valid profile.

To test your pricing, click the "Save & Test Pricing" button at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have created a pricing profile, you can price your images.

International Currencies

FotoQuote® provides pricing information in US Dollars. However, depending on your currency preference that you set in your sales configuration, PhotoShelter will automatically convert the pricing for you based on a daily sampling of the currency exchange. This means that you might see variance in price on a day-to-day basis due to fluctuation in exchange rates.

For example:

• A given usage might price for USD$379 on Monday
• A seller in New Zealand who transacts in NZD will have that price automatically converted to NZD$551 on a given day for an image buyer.
• A buyer that returns the next day and prices an image with the same usage might see a price of NZD$548 because of currency fluctuations.

What Buyers See

When a buyer clicks "Add to Cart" for an image that is priced as RM, they will be taken to the "Downloads" tab of the "Add to Cart" window, where they may enter their usage details to obtain a quote for the image:

If the buyer opts to purchase the image at the rate quoted, they may click the "Add to Cart" button, which will allow them to place the image in a shopping cart so they can either “checkout” or continue shopping. The buyer does not need to log into a PhotoShelter account in order to license the image from you.

After the buyer logs into PhotoShelter, they may continue purchasing the image.

Receiving Files Electronically

After a transaction has been completed, PhotoShelter retrieves the appropriate file(s) from its database and creates a ZIP file. The buyer is notified via e-mail when the files are ready for retrieval (usually a few minutes wait at the most). This ZIP file includes:

• Image (format depends on the preferences you set)
• XMP Sidecar with usage rights
• Text file with usage rights
• Text file of the licensing agreement

The usage rights are also embedded as IPTC data if the file is delivered as a JPEG. The usage rights are included in multiple flavors to ensure that there is no ambiguity regarding the legal license attached with the purchased images. For example:

Usage rights agreed upon for this image are: United States, Advertorial.Print.Magazine, 1/2 Page, Up to 5,000 ** Licensed to Joe Smith / Joe's Design Co. **

PhotoShelter allows the purchaser to download the images for up to 10 days, after which they will have to contact you if they need to retrieve the image again.

A History of Sales

All your historical sales for any licensing type can be found in Sell -> My Sales.

FAQ

Do I have to pay to use the Rights-Managed module with fotoQuote®?

There is no additional charge to use the system outside of the standard PhotoShelter transaction fees that apply to all image sales.

I don't like the pricing that I'm getting for a specific usage from fotoQuote®. Can I change just the one usage?

No. The matrix of pricing that fotoQuote provides has thousands of permutations. In order to make the system manageable, we only allow you to create variance in pricing for categories and geographies, not individual combinations.

I'm a fotoQuote® user, and when I pull up that application, it gives me a price range. How come you don't do the same?

At the end of the day, the buyer needs a single price, not a range of valid pricing. PhotoShelter uses the middle pricing for a given usage as a baseline, and then allows you to set a percentage variance from that price.

What sort of file prep should I do?

Unlike standard photo agencies, we do not mandate that you have files of a certain size nor quality. However, we highly recommend that you take the appropriate measures so that your buyers receive delivery of quality images that will keep them coming back to purchase your images. This means files of an adequate size, free of noise and dust, and properly captioned.

If I configure my account to deal in Euros, and the client is in the US, which currency will they see for their pricing?

To avoid double conversions, we always display the price in the seller's currency (in this example, euros).

How much should I charge for my images? Should I use the baseline prices in fotoQuote®?

Anti-collusion laws prevent us or anyone else from telling you what you should charge for an image. This is why fotoQuote® is presented to you as survey data. You must decide pricing variance, categories and geographies on your own.

How do I make sure that my clients are using images the way they licensed them?

Currently, there is no way to monitor that the actual usage matches the license. You should request that tearsheets be mailed to you following publication for your records, and to verify the usage of the image. If your image was used in ways other than what was licensed, you should contact the client to resolve this. Ultimately, ensuring that you've registered your copyright is the best recourse for infringement.

Can I license an image as an exclusive or with a worldwide license?

There is no way to offer exclusivity through the calculator. Large agencies like Getty never allow automated negotiations for exclusive licenses. Worldwide licensing can be conducted if you enable the option.

Do you charge me a transaction fee when I choose to invoice a client?

Yes. All sales that flow through PhotoShelter are subject to are standard transaction fees.

Is there an image license associated with the sale?

Yes. We have a common image license that all image buyers agree to as a part of the checkout process. You may also upload your own personal licensing terms, which can override or supplement our generic licensing agreement.

My client wants the image for personal use only, and I don't see these usage options here.

FotoQuote® pricing is generated with commercial image buyers in mind. We offer a separate Personal Use license format for images you'd like to sell to individual consumers for their personal use, which may include, but is not limited to, using the image for at-home printing, screensaver slideshows, wedding announcements, online personal profiles, etc.

Please click here for more on selling Personal Use licenses.